Dear Mr Grinch
by MistyWing
Summary: Four short segments leading up to the melting of Mr. Grinch’s heart and the un-blindfolding of a completely clueless elf. It started with letters addressed to Mr. Grinch… M. Wing’s cleverly written Christmas tale.
1. 1st segment

_Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura is as much not mine as Christmas is not mine. Does that make sense? _

_So what would happen if Syaoran Li never confessed to Sakura Kinomoto when they were still in grade school? Would he ever? That's something to think about…_

_Happy holidays to all!_

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_Dear Mr. Grinch_

**By MistyWing**

The greatest Christmas present a girl could receive was a speck of acknowledgement from the only boy she ever felt anything for. When his arm brushed hers an evading tingle of electricity would shock her entire body motionless. This was the sign of love and if there was anyone out there to confirm her belief of love it was Sakura Kinomoto.

Sakura Kinomoto was your season greeting card, ginger bread cookies, and Christmas wreath hanging on your front door. She puts the jolly in your jolly merry Christmas. She puts the bounce on old Saint Nick and his reindeer driven sleigh. She was all over the holiday spirit every year.

"Go on, go on," Sakura giggled, shoving a bashful, lovely girl in the tenth year, toward the direction of her Christmas present.

The boy, also a tenth year student, groaned inwardly. He thought to himself, 'it's only first period…'

"If you want it you gotta go for it," Sakura spoke softly to her friend, whose name is not important right now. The whisper was loud enough for the boy to catch.

The girl's shiny black shoes squeaked against the linoleum floor as Sakura literally pushed her in the boy's direction. The girl kept having second thoughts, though.

"Syaoran-kun's not going to do anything scary," Sakura assured her.

"I know, but…"

Before the girl could get cold feet, Sakura gave a final shove. The boy turned just as Sakura's friend reached to a halt beside him. He could just glimpse the other girl on her rollerblades careening around the corner when he looked to the side. Her auburn hair sticking out just around the edge was apparent against the yellow painted wall. She thought she had hidden herself from the scene.

"L-L-Li-kun, I'm you're biggest fan. I've always admired you!" The girl proclaimed. The students walking by paused to watch the scene play out. High-schoolers enjoyed watching public confessions, especially the ones involving the stern and resolute soccer captain with another pretty girl.

"I'm not interested," he rather insipidly replied.

The tone he set sent the girl hurtling through the corridor in tears.

Syaoran sighed and shooed away some teammates, classmates, and fellow students. Still, out of the corner of his eyes he caught the red fringe pressed to the edge of the wall. He glanced her way, but then turned the other way to get to first period with the same thought going through his head… 'God, it's only first period…'

He had two classes with her and shared the same lunch period. She glowered at him all day, but never said a word about it. He knew she was angry at him for treating her friend like dirt, but he didn't really know how angry she was until he got her message by the end of the day.

He had been walking out of his soccer meet to get to his locker when he heard her muttering to herself. She was standing at his locker in her tight cheerleading uniform with her shiny red pompoms at her feet. Her fingers poked a letter through the slot hole before she gathered her pompoms and stalked away. Syaoran stepped out of his hiding place and hurriedly opened his locker. The note fluttered into his hand when the door swung open. Syaoran read her hastily written note;

Dear Mr. Grinch,

You've stolen a girl's happiness this Christmas. You're on the naughty list!


	2. 2nd segment

_Hi! I forgot to put the standard disclaimer up on my last post, so I reposted the first segment. There weren't any additional changes. Aside from that, there's going to be 4 segments to this Christmas story. The third segment will be out before Christmas Eve. Thanks all for reviewing last time and in advance._

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As the holiday drew nearer, Syaoran became scarier. One morning on the weekend before Christmas, the Girl Scout and her ban of elves rang his door bell. He took a look out his peep hole when he saw them gathered on his front porch. They all had on their little green outfits with their bell tipped hats. The teenage chaperone stood behind the group in the background.

Syaoran lamely opened the door to them. "You picked to come around my place on purpose," he accused his old comrade and friend.

"You need some Christmas cheer, Syaoran-kun!" Sakura cried. "Okay kids, one-two-three!"

They belted one of the most popular songs of the season… _Dashing through the snow / in a one horse open sleigh / O'er the fields we go / laughing all the way…_

Syaoran slumped against his door jam, eyeing them with what Sakura could only read as irritation.

When they finished, Syaoran sighed with relief. Sakura shook her head at him and said in a defeated timbre, "Well, we mainly came here to sell some candy canes for our fundraiser; it's only a dollar a cane!"

"What's it for?" He asked, already thumbing through the bills in his wallet.

"For the local animal pound where all the animals stay," one of the little ones piped.

He took out a wad of cash from his wallet and handed it to the kid who spoke. "I understand you're all doing this for a good cause, but just to let you know, a lot of those animals are terminated during the holidays because the pound gets too full around this time of year."

"Terminated?!" One cried in shock.

"Yeah, you know… They knock them out for good." Sakura's frown made him stop talking momentarily. He could tell she was upset with him when the glow drained from her lively face. He thought he could amend the situation through saying, "the way they are put to sleep is painless, though. They are given injections that make their hearts stop; they can't even feel it."

"They kill them?!" They screamed the question.

"Okay, kids!" Sakura abruptly exclaimed. "Thank Syaoran-kun for the donation. Let's move on to the next house!" She hustled the children off his porch.

She tossed one last scorching frown in his direction before they disappeared around his fence. Syaoran didn't even know how angry she was until she reappeared on his porch after supper time. When he opened the door to her, she just stepped into the house, temporarily forgetting her manners.

"May I come in?"

"You already have," he enunciated, shutting the door behind her.

She poked her head around the house before finally asking. "Where's Wei-san?"

"He had to fly back to Hong Kong. He'll be back after the New Year."

"You'll be here all by yourself for the holidays?" She trilled in astonishment.

"It can be like this during the busier seasons."

Her eyes turned a shade lighter, like a leaf unfurling in the sun. "Syaoran-kun, do you have a pen?"

She tore open the envelope in her hand and pulled out a pink parchment as he handed her a pen. She made a gesture to tell him to turn around and he did so.

He heard her scribbling something on the parchment and then he heard her returning the thing back to the envelope again. "Here you go," she said, nudging the letter in her hand to his shoulder. "I'll see you soon."

She showed herself to the door, leaving him to read her hastily written letter with its last minute adjustments:

Dear Mr. Grinch,

You've stolen the innocence of the children this Christmas. You might find coal in your stocking on Christmas day!

P.S. You are cordially invited to the Christmas party at my grandfather's estate on Christmas Eve.


	3. 3rd segment

_It's getting close to Christmas and the end of this wonderful story. I will be sitting at my computer during Christmas dinner. Specifically I will be multitasking, eating and reading your reviews! [Not eating your reviews, but eating food.]_

_M. Wing_

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Syaoran thought he had the wrong address. He circled the block and passed the biggest house on that block twice; for some odd reason this house number matched the number Sakura gave him. He finally opted to get out of his car after parking it along the curb behind a series of other cars. The main gate to the big house was open, so he walked through them without buzzing. The front doors were also left wide open, letting out a waft of warm air, holiday music, and lights. He stepped into the manor hesitantly, pausing beside a man, who took his coat from him.

"Syaoran-kun!" Sakura called, skipping down the stairs one leap after another. Her Santa hat with its fluffy white end bounced as she dropped to the landing of the first floor. She skirted the party-goers and ran towards him. Her red Santa's outfit with the mid-thigh length red skirt quivered around her long legs as she moved. "You made it! Did you bring anyone with you?"

"Uh," he uttered, unable to keep from ogling.

Sakura beamed while she took his hand in hers. She gave him a lengthy time interval to answer the question, but since he couldn't answer out right she said to him. "Come meet my grandpa!"

Amamiya was a man in his mid-eighties wearing an authentic snowy beard. His costume, that matched his great granddaughter's outfit, made him the spitting image of Saint Nicholas. Syaoran shook hands with the elder male and they exchanged greetings. After the quick meeting, Sakura tugged him into another crowd. At the same time, she would keep boisterously jabbering at him. "Come see who also came."

"Li!" A familiar voice called to him.

Sakura was dragging him along until he met the boy whom the voice belonged to.

"Oi, Toshiro. What are you doing here?"

Sakura stood to the side, watching Syaoran and Toshiro chat. Toshiro glanced over at Sakura waving at him before answering Syaoran's question, "I came with my date. My dad works for Kinomoto-san's grandfather." Just as Toshiro finished speaking, his date, a girl who had also confessed to Syaoran ages ago, stepped into the froth of talk.

"Hi Li-kun!" She squealed at him with her saccharine smile. Syaoran took a step back from his friend and the girl.

"Oi," he grunted. His eyes couldn't help shifting towards a certain somebody, who was now talking to another somebody. He was a rather handsome another somebody. From the distance that seemed to grow between them, Syaoran could see Sakura smiling at that somebody as she rocked back and forth on the heels of her dark boots. She didn't realize how childish she acted in her rather feminine body suit that turned her into a luscious woman.

Watching the girl babble on with the man and seeing her pat the man's arm in a chummy manner made an involuntary crease cross Syaoran's brow. Syaoran didn't bother looking back at the two people who were trying to drag him into another extensive, uninteresting, meaningless conversation. He was too drawn to the girl, who didn't realize she was flirting to an equally good-looking male.

Sakura was talking to a young employee of her grandfather's when Syaoran's fingertips grazed her wrist. "You should inform me if you're going to disappear," he told her when those depthless startled green eyes settled on him. "I thought you left me all alone."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Syaoran-kun, this is Hiroki-san. He was about to ask me something."

"Hi," Syaoran curtly muttered, barely acknowledging the older man. He shook his hand and turned to Sakura again, beating the guy to the punch. "You… Do you want to dance?"

"Okay. I wonder what Hiroki-san wants to ask me, though."

The man dipped his head in an awkward nod. "I'll ask later, Sakura-chan. Go have fun."

Syaoran led her in a waltz, while she sung praises for the perfect Hiroki-san. "He's only twenty-four and Grandpa gives him so many responsibilities. Grandpa told me that he wants to promote Hiroki-san to a team leader position, but Hiroki-san was unwilling to leave his lower paid position. He much preferred to work one on one with the rest of the employees, so he could grapple the heart of the company through understanding his fellow coworkers. He's a very humble person. There's also his credentials and intelligence to take into account with his substantial work ethic. When he just graduated from college, Grandpa already put him in a committee to head some funds. He explained it to me once, but I didn't get much of it."

"Can you stop talking about him for a minute?" Syaoran suddenly grumbled over the music. "He's too old for you!"

Sakura paused and blinked up at him. She wasn't speechless for long because the next stern words that popped from her mouth were, "I see Mr. Grinch is back."

"I don't know why you keep calling me that when I haven't taken any presents from under anybody's Christmas tree this year or any other year."

"You don't need to steal a present to be the Grinch. You steal the spirit and that's all it takes. Didn't you read any of my letters?"

They slowed to a standstill and Sakura maneuvered them away from the dance floor. "I know it's hard for you to keep your thoughts in check, but sometimes you need to think about what you want to say before actually saying it."

No one would ever dare question the actions of Syaoran Li. They feared he would walk all over them if they did. That's what people, who didn't know him well, thought of him. "I state the facts, so that we don't live in a world of complete ignorance," he retorted.

"Syaoran-kun," Sakura groaned his name in aggravation as she took a step backward. "I can't believe you can say something like that on Christmas Eve!" Her eyes darted around the room before they landed on him again. "I need to go hang some Christmas decorations around the house right now. For some reason, they keep falling off. When I come back you better be smiling, Mr. Grumpy Grinch." With a wiggle of her forefinger and a scornful spark in her eyes, she departed.

Syaoran hung around the party by himself. When he was just starting to get along with being by his 'grumpy' self, Sakura's brother suddenly and deliberately bumped into him. "Yo! Gaki…" Touya stiffly grunted. It was a half greeting that appealed Syaoran's disdain for the bully.

Syaoran snarled at the older man, breaking off abruptly when he saw Yukito appearing beside Touya.

"Touya, don't call him that. It's rude."

"You think he knows where she is?" Touya asked bluntly.

"If you're asking about your sister, then no," Syaoran said.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be with her?" Touya barked the accusation.

Yukito spoke before Syaoran opened his mouth to answer, "Syaoran's feelings toward your sister are for his personal reference. Don't put his feelings ahead of your job as the overprotective brother." Yukito rolled his eyes at Touya. "You know it's your own fault pulling down all that mistletoe she helped put up. It's hard keeping track of her if she's running around your grandfather's big house."

"I had to, Yuki! They were hanging everywhere and teenage boys from her school and pedophiles from work are all around us trying to steal kisses from little girls who don't know any better."

"_You_ did it?" Syaoran snorted.

"Shut it, kid. I know how you feel about my sister; you are not as slick as you think you are. Don't pride yourself on your false sense of smoothness. For the record, you've been sound at keeping your hormones in check these last few years; I know you won't try anything. Go look for her while I deck the pedophiles and the punks with roofies." Touya waved impatiently at him ignoring the biting return sneer from the boy.

"Good luck, Li-kun," Yukito said as he followed Touya into the corner crowd.

Grumbling, Syaoran followed a couple wandering upstairs. They paused under the first archway, where mistletoe hung. Irritated, Syaoran rushed by them and stomped through the hall to drown the noise behind him. He slowed to an amble after walking for some time. He finally came to a complete stop when he heard Sakura's quiet voice speaking.

"It's high, isn't it?"

There was a long pause. Then, there was the sound of leather coal boots hitting the ground repeatedly.

"I should've brought my key with me today," she whispered.

Syaoran followed the sound of her voice to a small bedroom that faced the front of the house. Sakura was reaching up on her tip toes. Something dangled in her fingertips as she tried reaching for the top of the balcony doorway. She was a solid ten inches too short.

"You're too short," he finally said after watching her grow more and more frustrated with herself. He stepped over the threshold and walked into the half lit bedroom.

She turned to face him, her silver bracelets jingling. "Syaoran! How'd you know I was here?"

"Human instinct," he drawled.

Her eyes glinted under the starlight shining through the opening. "Yeah right… Have you at least thought about what I said?"

"I have. Do you want to know what I gathered from this reflective moment?" She nodded, prompting him to continue, "I'm not going to like some girl I barely know just to get into the holiday spirit even if my best friend wants me to." Sakura chuckled a bit, but when her laugh subsided he said more, "I'm not going to give false hope to the children who will someday learn that life is unforgiving."

When he finished, Sakura cocked her eye brow at him. "I will have to disagree with you on that second part. They're just children! They shouldn't have to know the dark side until they've reached a certain age! Who are you to pick that age?"

He backfired without missing the beat. "Who are you to decide when that age is?"

She glared at him, full lips pursed to a thin rigid line

Syaoran crossed his arms and approached her. "How about we just call it even? We're both right."

"No!"

"Who's ruining the Christmas spirit stuff, now?" He inquired carefully, his eyes twinkling with challenge.

"You," she responded.

He sniggered. "We've known each other a long time, haven't we? We practically know how the other thinks. We know when one of us is being stubborn."

"Sometimes," she mumbled with a nonchalant shrug.

"Then, admit you need help with that," he said, gesturing to the mistletoe in her hand.

She let out a light snort. "Of course I need help. I specifically need Fly."

Without another word, Syaoran scooped her up and onto his broad shoulder and edged closer to the balcony doors. Syaoran didn't utter a sound as he hoisted her up. However, her heart had picked up a fast paced thumping when his hands swept across her bare legs. His touch raised the goose bumps on the surface of her skin.

She calmed her rapid pulse to some degree when she found her balance. While she idly pinned the mistletoe over their heads she chattered in her untroubled manner. "It's nice to talk to you again like this," she murmured.

"Yeah," he sighed without a note of strain in his voice.

Sakura held the mistletoe over the ledge and wrapped some scotch over it. "It hasn't really been the same after the card capturing days. You have soccer, I have cheerleading, you're good at math and I'm not, you're in a different section than me…"

"Yeah, but we still talk occasionally."

"That's the problem! We talk only occasionally, so I didn't understand how you felt before. I just kept shoving my friends at you without first cautioning you. I'm really sorry, Syaoran-kun."

"It's okay. You were trying to be a good friend to me and to your other friends."

"Yep, but it's not in my nature to make such a ghastly mistake."

"You don't know you're nature very well, do you?"

"That's mean, Syaoran-kun!" She gritted. Her charming snide look slowly ebbed. "But, I guess I deserve any sarcastic remark from you."

"The list goes on," he added playfully with his fingers tapping a pattern on her calf.

Sakura sulked and impatiently shook her leg at him. "I'm done!"

Syaoran allowed her to slip and drop into the crook of his arm; he stayed her in his arms and cradled her. In the meantime, Sakura had to catch her breath from the shock of dropping from his shoulder. After recovering, she looked up and saw his face; Sakura looked into his face wearing a soft expression that erased how he mildly rapped at her seconds ago. Sakura gave him another tender smile and landed a superfluous kiss on the center of his forehead. As she jammed her red hat over his head she was answering his soundless question. "That kiss was for being such a good sport all these years and for the spirit of Christmas! We're under the hanging mistletoe I just pinned up, let me remind you."

"How many of those have you given up this night?" Syaoran asked suspiciously, feeling her playfully rock in his arms.

She touched a finger to her cute mouth. "I don't kiss and tell. Besides, that's not a fair question between buddies."

"Then, ask me a question you think will make my question fair," he tempted.

Her hand dropped from her mouth and she turned bright again. "Okay! Since we're best friends and we were on that topic of kisses… How was _your_ first kiss, Syaoran-kun?"

She looked at him, their eyes dancing between shades of green and shades of amber, the colors of Christmas. Syaoran bent closer, so that their noses actually touched. Sakura didn't pull away as he met her; so drawn was she to the pools of gold in his eyes. He whispered softly as if he was telling her his deepest secret. "My first kiss was with the prettiest girl in the world."

Her heart skipped a beat. "Really?! Do I know her?"

He closed his eyes and smiled dreamily. He was so still for a moment Sakura thought he had fallen asleep. She reached up to brush away his bangs from his closed eyes. When he opened his eyes to her touch, she discovered a golden rush of red saturated with her reflection. She tilted her head and impishly smiled back at him.

"My first kiss was with the only girl I've ever loved," he finished, pressing a kiss to Sakura's shocked mouth. The touch was ephemeral, but it made Sakura's heart rattle like a caged bird would rattle its prison when it begged to be freed.

Her feet slipped to the solid ground, but Syaoran still had an arm wrapped securely around her shoulders. His breath and mouth hung just an inch above her. Sakura was sure, that her face was crimson red as she sheepishly looked up at her friend. "Uh, Syaoran… That was my first kiss," she garbled breathlessly. Her hands braced the expansive shoulders that had held her weight earlier.

"I know. All these years I made certain that I would be the one to give it to you," he muttered.

"Under the mistletoe?" She asked, pulling her head back slowly only to be jerked to him again.

"Yeah, it's where the magic of the Christmas spirit begins, right?" His lips lightly brushed hers again. "Now, how many kisses have you given out today?"

"Oh, a few actually! There was-"

The rest of Sakura's words were muffled as Syaoran gently positioned a kiss to her mouth and stole her breath away from her. He kissed her with thoroughness and with affection that was no match for their first kiss. Sakura responded in kind by reaching up to him, silently beckoning for more of what he should have given her years ago. She curled her arms around his neck and leaned into his sturdy body as their mouths were melded in a seamless fit. Syaoran felt her twining a leg around his leg as she sought to eliminate any space between them. He wanted just as much as she wanted to be fused against one another.

"Kaiju-ko, where are you?!" Touya's worried voice echoed just outside the room in the hallway.

The magic vanished with the sound of that petulant voice. One minute the two of them did not have even a millimeter of space between them and the next, space that was large enough to engulf the room tore them apart. Sakura gave Syaoran flickering glances of disbelief and Syaoran returned those looks with a hard, potent stare that distinctly told her something that seemed to last forever between them.

"Kaiju?" Touya bellowed, peeking his head around the doorway to the room. His eyes first landed on the mistletoe hanging between them, before his eyes hunted out the boy and the girl with matching embarrassed expressions on their faces. "Kaiju, I called you twice! Why didn't you answer? Are you done decorating, yet?!"

Sakura blinked a couple of times at her brother, but remained unresponsive.

"Hey you, Gaki! What are you standing around for? Were you helping her out or were you playing the part of one of those caged monkeys in the zoo people gawk at?"

Sakura's face flared pink with anger. "Onii-chan, he's not a gaki or a monkey!"

Touya grappled her by the arm and tugged her into the hallway. Sakura's flushed face was so beautiful to Syaoran, he caught himself staring at her too much. Touya pulled his sister under his arm and threw threatening glares in Syaoran's direction the entire ride.

"I don't know what's gotten into the both of you, but I think you two need to maintain some definite distance."

"Onii-chan!" Sakura wheezed in outrage, beating at her brother's torso.

"Be quiet, Kaiju-ko. I'm taking you home early, so dad doesn't have to worry anymore. You're skirt is too short!"

"Onii-chan," Sakura whined again, her eyes were big glistening pools of green.

"Say goodbye to Gaki and Grandpa. See you at Christmas dinner!" Touya turned to Syaoran in haste and added, "Not you Gaki. I was talking to Grandpa-let's go Yuki!" Touya effortlessly hefted his little sister in one arm and carried her to the car. Amamiya and Syaoran exchanged unreadable cursory looks before they both turned to watch the three party poopers disappear into their car. The image of Yukito bowing mercilessly for forgiveness to Amamiya and Syaoran remained concrete in their minds.


	4. 4th segment

On Christmas day, Syaoran glared at his gifts under the tree as he drank his green tea. There was nothing jolly about the holiday at all, especially with the memory of how Christmas Eve this year ended for him. Syaoran shuffled into his empty parlor and sat at the table. He had left Sakura's hat on the table the night before and looking at it made him plainly fuzzy. He couldn't get her out of his mind, which was the reason why he had trouble sleeping at night. Syaoran tried to take a short nap using his arm as a pillow, but the phone rang and he went to answer it. He was so down under, it took him a moment to figure out which phone was ringing. He soon realized it wasn't his house phone that was ringing. It was actually the cell phone, which Sakura had given him ages ago, that rang.

"Sakura!" He shouted frantically, "What's the matter?!"

"Nothing! Why are you so worried?!" She exclaimed, echoing his frantic tone.

"You haven't called me on this phone since we transformed the last card! I thought you were in trouble," he panted.

"I'm not in trouble. I thought I'd call you on this phone in case you went out… It's Christmas, so I thought maybe you went out with the girl who gave you your first kiss…"

"What?" Syaoran strode back into the parlor. To calm his rapidly beating heart he clutched at her hat on the table as if the connection to her was extended through touching something that belonged to her. "I think you've misunderstood something. I'm not seeing anyone."

"Oh! Then, can I come over?"

"Sure…" He said, knowing that she had hung up right afterwards.

His doorbell suddenly rang. Curiously frowning, he opened the door to Sakura holding a red velvet bag with a gold string stretched around its neck. Today she wore a red wool coat over her green elf costume from the day she was the Girl Scout with her band of merry elves. Syaoran noted that Tomoyo had made a few adjustments to the fitting outfit Sakura wore. When she had her back turned to him, his eyes roamed the small rises of her buttocks under her skirt and trailed the curves of her calves hidden in her snug green tights.

"Merry Christmas," she cheered, lugging the bag in behind her as she entered his house. After setting her bag to the floor, she half-turned to him with a gift of a small smirk playing at her lips. There was a tinkle from the bell at the tip of her green felt hat when she turned.

"Uh, Merry Christmas to you, too. I hope that's not Santa's bag of coal for me."

"You got scratched off the naughty list just in time for the holiday," she said. "I thought I'd bring you some cheer instead."

"More cheer, huh? Aren't you supposed to be home on Christmas morning, opening your presents with your family?"

"That was done hours ago, so I thought I could spend most of the Christmas day with Mr. Grinch instead! I got onii-chan a BB gun, but I think it was the wrong choice this year. He has the wrong idea about us and last night…" She trailed off, jerking her head to the side to show that she was uncertain about their predicament as well.

"No, I'm pretty sure he has the right idea," he murmured back, blushing too.

She spun around and pointed her index finger, with her thumb up, at him. "I wanted to call you and ask you if you wanted to come over for Christmas, but I came to a realization. If I invited you over to my house instead of just dropping by your place, I don't think there will be much cheer to go around. A BB gun point blank will kill you."

"He's got to face the facts someday."

Sakura pulled out her homemade Christmas pudding pie from her big red bag as she asked him, "What facts?"

"The fact that what's between us is more than our casual day-to-day chumminess. You don't go around bestowing kisses on your best friend in a romantic starlit setting, Sakura."

"But what about the girl who gave you your first kiss?" Sakura's voice grew thin and brittle.

Syaoran moved behind her and settled a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "I was foretelling my first kiss."

"Oh…" She turned to him, springing up like a taut coil being released. "Oh!" She shouted again.

Syaoran reached around her and uncovered the pie. He let out a patient laugh. "Does your brother know you're around here?"

"I might be slow sometimes, but I'm not stupid!" She yelled.

"I doubt that. You go kissing anything that talks or breathes."

"You didn't let me finish last night! As I recall, I was telling you that I had kissed others under the mistletoe. Those others were my grandfather, Yukito, and my cousin!"

Syaoran gave her a dubious look. "Thank The Lord, your brother yanked all that mistletoe from over your head or else you'd be kissing people like Hiroki-san."

"I knew it! That onii-chan…"

Syaoran charged on, blowing aside her indirect frustration at full throttle, "That Hiroki-san would've wanted more than a simple peck on the cheek…"

"But I didn't want to kiss Hiroki-san, Syaoran!" She called, putting her hand in the bag and pulling out a box of gingerbread cookies.

"You were flirting nonstop with the guy; he was entitled to more."

She huffed, throwing a hand to her trim waist. "I was not flirting… At least not intentionally flirting."

"I know, Sakura…"

"Then, you're not really angry at me, are you?" She whispered the question.

Syaoran bit off the head of the gingerbread man, watching her watching him in earnest. "I don't know why I should be. You can't help being adorable and beautiful."

"You think I'm beautiful?" She inquired, stars shining in her eyes as she leaned closer to him.

Syaoran swallowed hard. "I said it last night." He took a bite of the arm, completely avoiding eye contact with her.

"Pretty and beautiful have two completely different meanings," she pouted. She read his mind before he could respond to her aloud. "A girl remembers what the guy says to her when she receives her first kiss from him. Pretty is not the same as beautiful."

"They are the same if I used them in the same context," he muttered, earning a quick fulsome stare from the girl. After a moment of pensive silence, Sakura shrugged and walked over to his lone stocking hanging over the fireplace. She dropped handfuls of chocolate into the sock and completed the stuffing with the placement of a shiny candy cane. As Syaoran watched her work he softly blurted out, "You're both."

"It's really hard for you to compliment people if it's not spontaneous," Sakura stated between her teeth. Changing the subject she addressed his gifts, "Syaoran, you really should open these presents! It's way pass that hour!"

"Will you open them with me?" He shyly asked.

"Of course! From this day forward, we should spend more holidays together," she announced seriously.

"I'd like that," he agreed, suddenly coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. She turned in his arms to return the hug. After a while in his embrace, Sakura shifted, so that she could get a view of his face. He dodged her immediately before his eyes could connect with hers. Instead, he turned to the pie she left on his table. "Let me get some plates and forks!" He announced, fleeing into the kitchen.

Sakura's shoulders sagged in disbelief. Her eyes rested on the archway connecting the foyer to the parlor. The mischievous twinkle reached her eyes as she returned to the red bag for her secret weapon.

Syaoran came back with the plates and forks. Directly upon his return with the plates, Sakura was dishing out the pie, giving him a large slice. Syaoran caught Sakura staring at him often as he stood there eating the pie she had served him. "Is there something you want to tell me, Sakura?"

"Actions speak louder than words, Syaoran," she grumbled. She hadn't eaten any of her pie. She only picked at it with her fork.

"Excuse me?" He squawked.

Sakura firmly set her plate down and stepped up to him. She took the pie from his hands and edged closer to him, so that they shared the same floor space and air.

"Um, Sakura… What's the matter?" He asked, holding her shoulders to fix her.

"Look up, Syaoran."

Syaoran looked up and saw the mistletoe hanging over their heads. "Sakura, I don't think we should-"

Sakura reached over to kiss him while Syaoran dropped his arms to his side. When her lips met his in a feverish lip lock it took about every fluid-ounce of fuel in Syaoran's body, not to take advantage of the situation. At first contact, his mind burst and he almost lost his footing. The girl remained dangling against him, desperately seeking some positive reaction from him.

When Syaoran didn't respond she pulled away instantly. Syaoran caught a glimpse of the tears lingering in her eyes just before she turned away from him.

"I thought you needed some prompting, so I brought out the mistletoe. I guess last night was really just a magical night for the both of us… I'm sorry, Syaoran-kun. I won't push myself at you anymore…" She said this, her voice trembling with her heartbroken emotions.

A carnal growl erupted from deep in Syaoran's belly to his throat, startling Sakura. Her tears were already dripping down her cheeks when he swiftly pulled her back into him and turned her face to the side, so he could kiss her. She was humming when he rubbed his lips to hers and whispered nonsensical gibberish between soft, tantalizing kisses.

He barely pulled away to coherently murmur in her hair, "I don't need mistletoe to prompt me. You're all the prompting I need. The moment you walked in, I had to restrain myself. I can't allow for one thing to lead to another. We're in my house-my comfort zone-and one thing _will_ lead to another because you make it so hard to stay in control."

"Syaoran, I don't mind," she breathed, playing with the chestnut hair at the back of his head.

"_I do mind_, but you know," he whispered back, "If I love you this much to hold back from assaulting you, then I can contain myself while we make out."

Sakura grinned as Syaoran slid into the chair and pulled her into his lap. She could never imagine getting tired of his endearments in her ear or the heated kisses he marked on her skin.

She murmured against his kisses mainly for his benefit,

"Dear Mr. Grinch, I think I love you, too."

"You _think_?" He queried in his pitched low voice.

Sakura giggled as he dropped a trail of kisses down her exposed throat

Sakura modified her statement, "Dear Mr. Grinch, I _know_ I love you."

He lifted his head to gaze at her. Why hadn't she ever noticed how he watched her so pensively; it would have given them more time together? The boy would give her the biggest grin before he bent his head to join his mouth to hers in a union that seemed as everlasting as the immortality of the holiday spirit. The simple kiss melted the cold heart of Mr. Grinch and opened the eyes for jolly in jolly merry Christmas.

* * *

Aw… After writing this short tale I was reminded of the first holiday fanfiction I wrote in honor of this pair here, Sakura & Syaoran. "Breaking the Ice" was one of my earlier works, but it was no match for this. I believe I put a lot more thought and heart into this piece than I did for the last holiday story. It has been a long time, which I find it hard to believe. It's almost a new year, too.

Behold the beauty of the holidays! I hope everyone has a cuddle bunny when the year changes. It doesn't have to be your partner in crime… It could be your best friend. I made a list of things I want to do this winter break. The list goes on and on in a mental page. The list includes making someone happy this winter at the expense of a little bit of my time. It's nice to give once in a while if you can afford it. Merry x-mas! Both questions and comments are welcomed in reviews. Leave a word or more and I'll give you a candy cane.

Warm wishes,

M. Wing


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